Morgan's Rock Reserve & Ecolodge

Morgan's Rock was opened in 2004 by the Poncon family on a 4,000-acre estate on Nicaragua's Pacific coast, about 13 kilometres from San Juan del Sur. Nearly half the land is kept as a private reserve, and the rest is given to the El Aguacate farm and sustainable forestry. The 15 bungalows stand on a cliff above the cove, reached by a suspension bridge through the jungle, and are built from responsibly sourced tropical wood and volcanic stone; three two-bedroom villas add private pools. There is no air conditioning and no television, by choice. The wild is the point. Two endangered species of sea turtle nest all year on a mile-long private beach, where staff watch over the hatchlings, and the forest holds howler, spider and capuchin monkeys and sloths. Days bring riding, mountain biking, a night walk through the jungle or a morning spent planting native hardwoods. Around 60 per cent of the food is grown on the estate, which includes a sustainable shrimp farm, and La Bastide restaurant looks over the cove, and the spa offers treatments and yoga.